Gender Difference in the Credibility Perception of Mobile Websites: A Mixed Method Approach

SIGCHI ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction SIGWEB ACM Special Interest Group on Hypertext, Hypermedia, and WebTo persuade people to buy a product or service online, they must be visually convinced and attracted to use the sales website. Thus, there is need to understand how different user groups perceive various designs of websites for better adaptation. A lot of research has shown that users' judgment of the credibility of a website is critical to its success. However, in the mobile domain, little has been done empirically to 1) investigate users' credibility perception of a website; and 2) how it changes as the user interface (UI) design is systematically altered. This paper bridges this gap by carrying out sentiment and statistical analyses of users' perceptions of four systematically modified mobile websites among 285 subjects from North America, Africa and Asia. The results show that mobile website design affects the perception of its credibility, with 1) females being more critical and sensitive to UI changes than males; and 2) the grid-layout website design preferred to the list-layout website design by both genders. The study contributes to knowledge in three ways. First, it provides a concise model for understanding users' UI perceptions, expectations and gender differences. Second, it presents important findings that will enable a gender-based mobile website adaptation. Third, it provides a set of empirically backed guidelines for mobile web design

Attractive User Interface Elements : Measurement and prediction

The years 2020–2021 mark a time when the global population was encountered by a world-wide pandemic. The lockdown had devastating consequences on many industries and individuals, and the emergence of global economies into the postpandemic recovery has only just begun. However, as people adapted to the pandemic by embracing a mobile lifestyle, industries that employed graphical user interfaces as a means of human-computer interaction saw tremendous growth, exceeding everyone’s expectations despite predictions of a slowdown. One example is the mobile apps and games markets, touted as the fastest growing marketplaces worldwide. At the moment, the impact of the mobile economy is undeniably high, and it does not show signs of stalling. As we look ahead and start the 'return to physical', we can see new mobile habits take shape in our everyday life. Today, people conduct most daily functions via graphical user interfaces, due to the increasing technology-mediated nature of all human praxis, such as socializing, work, education, and entertainment. The interaction is realized on various different platforms, be they on desktop, mobile devices, VR or (smart) TVs. Although user interfaces themselves are not novel, their role is more significant now than anyone could have imagined only a few decades ago. Attractive visual designs in user interfaces have proven to enhance many aspects concerning usability, sense of pleasure and trust, but evaluating aesthetics is challenging due to the subjective nature of user perception. Although several theories and measurement instruments have been developed in order to assess and design pleasing user interfaces, the measures remain scattered. Therefore, the aim of this dissertation is to expand knowledge on how the visual aesthetics of graphical user interfaces can be modelled, evaluated, and assessed. Through four studies, this dissertation provides an overview of the state-of-theart in the literature of measurement instruments of visual aesthetics for graphical user interfaces. The dimensions of aesthetic perception that emerge in the context of user interface elements are also examined and introduced by developing a scale for measuring perceptions. As engaging and intuitive imagery has become one of the most valuable assets in today’s attention economy, the studies also observe individual user perceptions of different demographic groups and their relationships on aesthetic qualities to determine how they predict the success of graphical elements. The publications employ methodology ranging from a systematic literature review to sophisticated, quantitative statistical modelling methods to accurately identify and address each of the described phenomena by standardized means. The findings provided by this dissertation greatly contribute to existing literature on the measurement and prediction of visually pleasing graphical user interfaces both practically and theoretically. Advancing knowledge and guidelines in this fast-paced field requires assessment from a wide perspective, including the observation of prior work, and the adaptation of measures to the modern economy by highlighting user behavior and preferences. This is particularly important in the milieu of the increasingly growing prevalence of graphical user interfaces that will continue shaping our lives in ways unimaginable

Gender and website design across cultures

Previous research has determined that women and men process information differently and have unique values. These findings are further confirmed in the context of online shopping where women are known to have diverse preferences from men related to website design, and different sentiments regarding website trust and security. Yet despite these known differences, relatively there is little research has examined gender and website design. Further, although online shoppers hail from all corners of the globe, no research has examined gender differences concerning website design in a multicultural sample. To fill this gap, the current investigation examined differences between men and women with a focus on trust, satisfaction, loyalty, and website design in eight countries. Results demonstrate significant differences between men and women on all variables tested. Further analyses of four of the countries in the sample (China, Canada, the United States, and Germany) are compared related to socio-cultural values for masculinity-femininity. As expected, countries more alike on this dimension exhibited more similarities in terms of gender comparisons. All hypotheses in the study are supported. Suggestions are made regarding avenues for future research

Gender and website design across cultures

Previous research has determined that women and men process information differently and have unique values. These findings are further confirmed in the context of online shopping where women are known to have diverse preferences from men related to website design, and different sentiments regarding website trust and security. Yet despite these known differences, relatively there is little research has examined gender and website design. Further, although online shoppers hail from all corners of the globe, no research has examined gender differences concerning website design in a multicultural sample. To fill this gap, the current investigation examined differences between men and women with a focus on trust, satisfaction, loyalty, and website design in eight countries. Results demonstrate significant differences between men and women on all variables tested. Further analyses of four of the countries in the sample (China, Canada, the United States, and Germany) are compared related to socio-cultural values for masculinity-femininity. As expected, countries more alike on this dimension exhibited more similarities in terms of gender comparisons. All hypotheses in the study are supported. Suggestions are made regarding avenues for future research